


Fairy's Hand Mirror

by tatersalad5001



Series: Miracle Synchro Fusion [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Gen, Slice of Life, in this house we use dub names, it's post gx and between seasons 1 and 2 of vrains, so. aoi and manjoume are skye and chazz respectively
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-27 01:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Akira was back to being in charge of security for Link Vrains. Vrains was in a maintenance period, but Akira was still as busy as ever. Skye rarely got to see him. She missed being a family. It wasn't like Akira wasn't making an effort, life just gave them so few opportunities to hang out like this....A single person made her question herself and the same uncertainty Skye still felt had cost her more than just a duel. This stranger was right to judge her, because a true duelist wouldn't let hesitation cloud their thoughts like this.





	Fairy's Hand Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> im very tired and havent been able to get myself to write much lately so take this.
> 
> this au...if you're familiar with bacon saver, this story takes place in the same au. but. this story takes place before bacon saver does. if you're not familiar with bacon saver... this story takes place post-gx, and between seasons 1 and 2 of vrains. other than that, there's probably not much more about this au you need to know for this story. but bacon saver goes more in depth in this universe with jaden and yusaku if that's your jam? if not that's fine, too. don't expect this to have multiple chapters.
> 
> you can find me on [tumblr](https://datanamines.tumblr.com), or i'm also around on discord, if you're looking for me. anyway. thanks for reading and hope you enjoy. i appreciate you.

Skye glanced down at the phone in her hand, which still hadn't made a noise or shown anything on its screen since she last looked down at it ten seconds ago.

Still nothing. She was starting to get antsy.

As a distraction, she glanced down at what she held in her other hand. The store she was standing outside of didn't just sell cards for dueling, it sold other games and accessories for those games as well. It was a smaller store, but she was always amazed by its variety. As well as its warmth. Everyone who worked there was always welcoming, and happy to help look for even specific cards. Maybe it was just good customer service. But it still felt like they really cared, and Skye found herself continuing to find excuses to continue going back.

The person working there today had probably spent around five minutes trying to help her track down the Link Monster section of the individual cards for sale, since it was so small. Link Monsters didn't seem to be in high demand there. The guy seemed like he'd gotten lost in the store somehow at least twice, but she still felt bad about how long it took. Even if it seemed like it had been worth it in the end when she found what she was looking for: Trickstar Foxglove Witch. Her newest Trickstar smiled up at her now. Behind the witch, an unopened card pack rested in Skye's hand, along with a receipt. She'd asked for a pack from one of the newest booster packs, which called itself Flames of Destruction, on a whim. What she got would be a surprise. And it'd be fun to find out what she got, but she'd resolved not to open it until she got home.

That had probably been...sixteen minutes ago, if her math was right. It probably was, she already double-checked.

Before she could decide to triple-check, however, Skye noticed the store's door open out of the corner of her eye.

Someone was exiting the store. He was definitely older than her; it seemed like he was about the same age as the guy who was working there right now. His red jacket and the purple shirt he was wearing under it looked out of place on him. That might've been because they looked a bit big on him. Maybe he was borrowing them. Maybe it was all he had at the moment, she was really in any place to judge. Between the red jacket and his spiky black hair, though, she couldn't help making a mental comparison to Shadow the Hedgehog. That look probably wasn't what he'd been looking for.

Okay, don't be weird, Skye. Don't just stare at people going in and out of the store. She checked her phone again. Still nothing. She looked up and around the parking lot. No one was entering.

Now the person who just left the store was looking at her. He'd probably noticed her staring at him. Or maybe she had just been standing her for too long, and he was going to tell her to get a move on. She didn't remember rules on things like that anymore. Where was--

"Hey, I promise I'm not trying to be like, creepy or anything." The guy held his hands up in front of him as he walked towards Skye. Well, she hadn't thought he was being a creep before, but now she was definitely trying to figure out if he was or not. Not her favorite start to a conversation. "But you have a ride home or something, right?" As he continued talking, he pointed his thumb back towards the store. "He just wanted to make sure. Said you've been standing out here on your own for awhile."

Oh, the game shop employee. She'd forgotten that he could definitely see her standing out here. "I do. My brother should be back soon, he dropped me off because he had to go to the bathroom."

She and Akira were out and about because Akira'd had some errands he needed to run, even on a day off. He'd insisted on driving himself, since he figured if he didn't drive once in awhile, sooner or later he'd forget how to completely. Since they were in the area, Skye had asked him if they could stop here, and Akira was happy to accommodate, but in a case of bad timing, her brother had had to go to the bathroom right when they stopped at the shop, and of course there wasn't a bathroom here. He'd had find one somewhere else.

Even if Skye wasn't really needed for the errands, even if she hadn't needed to actually get anything while they were out, Skye was still happy to ride along with her brother since she could. Akira was back to being in charge of security for Link Vrains. Vrains was in a maintenance period, but Akira was still as busy as ever. She rarely got to see him. She missed being a family. Before they stopped at the game shop, they'd been talking about life, talking about different places they'd passed on the road, joking about all of it... It wasn't like Akira wasn't making an effort, life just gave them so few opportunities to hang out like this.

She'd wanted to take advantage of it. Find a reason to tag along. 

Red jacket guy followed Skye's gaze down to the cards she was holding, the ones she just bought. "So, you duel?"

"...I don't know."

The words came out before she even thought about them. She'd been judging this guy's choice of words just seconds before, but she wasn't doing much better. He probably didn't care. He hadn't been asking for a lead in conversation to all her personal problems. He was just trying to be nice, make sure she was getting home okay, probably was curious why she'd been there at all. He certainly wasn't her therapist or anything.

"You don't know, huh?" He frowned at that, but he didn't seem annoyed. Contemplative, but not annoyed. "You're buying cards, but you're not sure whether to call yourself a duelist?"

For a moment, she boiled with anger. How dare this stranger judge her uncertainty? He didn't know her, had no idea what she'd been through or why she was questioning herself now. Then, the moment passed. She gave herself a second to think about her kneejerk reaction and cooled down. She'd felt that anger every time her brother tried to convince her to be safe about what she did in Vrains, to stay away from Speed Duels, or fighting Playmaker or the Knights of Hanoi. And, in the end, he'd been right. She hadn't been able to handle it. She lost her duels and Hanoi had nearly taken everything from her. A single person made her question herself and the same uncertainty she still felt had cost her more than just a duel.

This person was right to judge her, because a true duelist wouldn't let hesitation cloud their thoughts like this.

"I've been a duelist," she said. "I thought I was. Even when it felt like no one believed in me, I figured living without taking risks wasn't really living. I wanted to live my own life. It went well for long enough that I started to get a bit cocky. The past couple of months, I've realized, maybe I'm not as good of a duelist as I thought I was. Or maybe there's a lot more people out there who are better than me than I thought. I charged into the most important duels I've ever dueled in and I lost. I don't know if I should keep going. I don't know if I'm cut out to be a duelist or not."

"You're lost, then. It's okay to be lost. I've definitely been there."

She glanced at him. His expression hadn’t changed.

”I’ve been molded into the path of a duelist for as long as I can remember. I thought I was the best, it’s what I was trained to be. Turns out I wasn’t. I lost some duels, people gave up on me. I was free to do whatever I wanted. But by then, I had no idea what I wanted to do, or who I wanted to be.”

”What did you do?” Skye asked.

”Turns out I surrounded myself with some pretty good friends.” He rolled his eyes. “Or, they surrounded me all on their own. I didn’t really want them around. But they helped me figure it out. So! Listen up, because you’re about to get some free advice from The Chazz!” He flashed her a smile. “Even The Chazz couldn’t do it on his own. So expecting yourself to figure out what you want to do without help is a losing battle. Find some good friends. Open up to them, ask them for help, and they’ll do their best to help and support you until you figure it out together. No one deserves to be on their own.”

Friends... Who did Skye have that she could consider a friend?

As Blue Angel, she had her fans, but they didn’t count. They didn’t really know her, and she certainly didn’t know them. She’d worked together with Go and Playmaker. But they’d be impossible to contact now, anyway. And they probably didn’t even count, either. Playmaker for sure didn’t seem interested in anything like that. So, outside of Vrains, then.

There was her brother. He was so busy, this wasn’t the kind of thing she wanted to bother him with. ...Maybe she should, though. He worked hard to make sure they could live comfortably and that she could live a happy life. He wanted her to be happy. If she wasn’t, wouldn’t he try to do what he could to help? She should at least try. She owed Akira that much.

Ghost Gal... She was more Akira’s friend than anything. Skye never really talked to Ghost Gal before. But Ghost Gal had helped Akira when Skye was in trouble. Maybe that counted for something. She could always try. The worst Ghost Gal could do was ignore her or turn her down.

She had the duel club, too. She didn’t go out of her way to try to make friends at school. Most people didn’t really want to be friends, they just wanted something from her. But she still joined the duel club, and still went to almost every meeting. Most of the members seemed okay. The duel disks her brother had gotten for everyone, they’d never asked for them. She and Akira just wanted to do something nice for them. She wasn’t sure if she considered them friends, though. Some of them were pretty weird. Like Shima, constantly talking about how much he liked Playmaker and getting in everyone’s space even when they didn’t want him to. And Yusaku... Yusaku was definitely weird. But he’d found her and had her taken to the hospital when she’d been trapped in Vrains. Where did that put them? He liked to stick to himself most of the time. He didn’t seem interested in being friends.

Well... She had her brother at least. That was a start.

”Thank you,” she said. “I can at least give it a try.”

”Right. It’s not easy, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Not everyone’s as lucky as The Chazz.” Red jacket guy shrugged. “Anyway, I should get going, but your ride should be here soon, right? Good luck.”

”Thank you.” Skye nodded. I’ll do my best.”

He left. It was still a few minutes before Akira came back, apologizing several times about how long he’d been gone. Skye insisted just as many times that it wa fine, so he should stop worrying about it. 

It wasn’t until she was in the car and they were driving away that Skye realized she’d just been talking to Chazz Princeton, one of the more popular professional duelists at the moment because of his dueling strategies. And he’d been pretty nice. Nicer than he made himself seem sometimes on camera, anyway.

And he’d been in a similar position to her. Despite the way he talked and acted, like he didn’t need anyone but himself, he’d had friends to count on. He hadn’t been alone.

Maybe Skye could afford to open up a little and srop trying to take on the world by herself.


End file.
